conservative republicans want much, much more. >> we're determined to find a way to pay the nation's bills. but to do that in a fiscally responsible way. >> last night house speaker boehner called conservatives to his office one by one. but he can't get the votes he needed to pass his bill. one republican left boehner's meeting saying he was battered and blooded i, but still no. >> on in the house is a disgrace, it is an outrage. >> the republicans are holding hostage the credit of the united states of america. >> today boehner's back at it again, but time's running out. we're at the white house and luke russert is covering capitol hill. we've just gotten a note here, luke, that staff in the house of representatives are getting the warning that the house telephone circuits are again near capacity following on the president's

request they they call their lawmakers and pressure them to get a a bipartisan solution. where do we stand on that? >> reporter: once again the president said call your member of congress during his address to the nation. ehe said it again. he showed it's reflected on populous. but here's what we can report. about 10:00 a.m. the house gop met. john boehner said he would alter the bill by adding a balanced budget amendment as the trigger for the debt limit to be raised again in six months. that is enough to win over the votes immediated to get to 216. a lot of folks who were no yesterday and left that meeting and said they would be a yes. a balanced budget amendment goes nowhere in the united states senate. brings the bill that was opposed by every single democrat in congress further to the right. therefore it remains very unclear what the pathway forward is now. all eyes on the united states senate which mitch mcconnell and

harry reid can come up with. so far mitch mcconnell has doubled down on the plan with a balanced budget amendment. and it's going to be a big question mark as to how long mitch mcconnell will stay on that position and whether or not harry reid tables the boehner bill later today or tomorrow. there is no clear consensus on capitol hill over what they will do in order to raise the debt limit. there are ongoing negotiations between staffs, between mcconnell, reid, boehner all talking to some degree in unison. right now the gop wants to pursue the boehner plan which is a dead end in the united states senate. they're confident it's going to pass today. the rules committee meets at 12:50. john boehner said he was smiling as he left the meeting with his fellow members today, contessa. >> mike, let's go to you. we just found out from president obama's twitter page that he's even reiterating his request

again for america people to call their lawmakers to demand a solution. the time for putting party first is over. if you want to see a bipartisan compromise let congress know. call, email, tweet and then he signs it barack obama. what's the white house hoping to accomplish by asking the american people to get involved in. >> reporter: there were words that ended with the president saying something to the effect that we can take it to the american people, eric. that's essentially what he's done. he's had press conferences, statements and now he's directly urging the american people to call their members of congress. and he wouldn't do it if it didn't have some effect. there's no question about it. the democrats on the house side are the ones sending out the emails alerting us to the fact that the phone lines are jammed. that's obviously a perception that they are trying to promote here. i want to mention something that the president said in the

intervening time between now and the time he appeared in the kploemtic reception room, he went to an event to promote higher fuel efficiency standards now. something we'd be talking about if it weren't for this debt ceiling notion. there's a man in the crowd, the president shakes hands with people. there was a man in the crowd that said mr. ppt, i'm in chicago, we spoke before you still owe me a poker game. to which the president responded i've got a high stakes game of poker going on right now. that sums it up. nobody knows how this is going to end. in a sense if john boehner in the end had proven unable to bring that vote as he is going to be able to do, that might have sped things up. it might have been that mitch mcconnell would have to sit down and make a deal with the president and harry reid on the senate side. and expedited matters somewhat. the irony of that would have been the tea party folks that

were holding out would have opened the door for some sort of compromise. as it stands right now, the politics are still working themselves out with that deadline looming on tuesday midnight. >> mike, thank you. luke, thank you. i know you guys are busy keeping tabs on this. we're watching for the rules committee in the house to meet on john boehner's new plan. that's supposed to happen in about 50 minutes there on capitol hill. this is the same rules committee that voted to allow him to introduce the bill and visit voted on the same day. we're waiting to hear from harry reid. let me show you the shot on capitol hill expecting him to come out in the senate and to address reporters on what the next step is on his plan about collie tur in the senate. in the meantime, we're asking the president who's insisting on any solution at this point, it

must be bipartisan. my big question today, have we reached a point in american politics where a bipartisan solution is just a pipe dream? it seems like we're getting to that point. a lot of frustration from capitol hill. here's the way you reach me, facebook, twitter on email. okay, so right now there's no path to a deal. time's running short. the president has urged both sides to get together. get a deal that he can sign. >> there are plenty of ways out of this mess. but we are almost out of time. we need to reach a compromise by tuesday so that our country will have the ability to pay its bills on time. >> senator ben carden is a democrat from maryland, a member of the budget and finance committee. senate, good to see you today. >> good to be with you, thank you. >> can a bill with a budgeted balance amendment make it through the senate? >> well speaker boehner's proposal which is strictly partisan is not going to be --

it's going to be killed in the senate. we're not going to pass that bill. we've already indicated that we need a bipartisan proposal. senator reid has come up with one that includes many provisions that the republicans have supported. he's talking to leader mcconnell. we're hoping the two will be able to come forward with a bipartisan agreement. quite frankly the house is being controlled by the tea party members and it's not going to pass. we're going to have to compromise if we're going to get it done. >> the vitriol has reached fever pitch on capitol hill. you've got spokes people for the senate leader tweeting about the poison pill that the tea party put in the boehner bill. you had mitch mcconnell on the floor of the senate. basically shunning the leaders impatient to get with him and to come one a compromise and putting all the blame on the democrats. how do you get out of this impasse? >> well, if you look at leader reid's proposal it includes

increasing the debt ceiling by as much. we reduce the debt itself. it includes no revenues as something to republicans have asked for. and all of the reductions in spending are those that the republicans have already agreed to. so i think we've gone pretty far in reaching out to the republicans. i know that leader reid is prepared to do more. he's meeting with leader mcconnell. if you want to compromise, we'll be able to reach a compromise. but if the tea party controls the actions in the house are able to block any types of compromises, then we're going to have a real problem. >> is there any way to reconcile you think what harry reid is proposing and what john boehner is proposing? >> absolutely. i think there's a lot of common ground there. what is important is to have certainty. we can't go through this again. we have to be able to increase the debt ceiling with some certainty through 2012. that to me is the key part. how we get there -- pretty

significant or very similar in both the reid and boehner proposal. there's a lot of common ground here. the key is whether we're going to have certainty. if we have to go back and do this again in a month or two, this nation has been damaged as a result of the gridlock on the debt ceiling. we can't go through that again in a couple of months. >> as we've heard financial experts say regardless of whether we default that we still face the threat of a downgrade in our credit ratings simply because of this impasse because of where we are and the uncertainty that it provides not only for the american economy, but for the global economy as well. i appreciate your time today. >> my pleasure. i'm joined by the chair of the democratic national committee florida congresswoman debbie wagszerman schultz. >> thank you. >> we're looking at the rules committee in about 40 minutes getting together, taking a look at the boehner bill. it looks like they're going to try to get this to a vote again. this time with the balanced

budget amendment, how does that help the overall process? >> i'm sort of feeling like this is groundhog day. the same thing all over again. we considered their cut, cap and balance bill earlier in the week. and last week. there aren't the votes if in the senate for a balanced budget amendment. there aren't the votes to pile the pain on the backs of our seniors to cut the safety net out of medicare and increase the cost for seniors in medicare which is what their proposal would do. now to sweeten the pot for the extremists in their caucus, they're putting that balanced budget amendment which has no chance of passing back in again. we're going many the wrong direction here. when you are hurdling towards chaos and default, you pull back and you sit down and you say, okay, where's the common ground?

both sides have a lot of the same proposals in their bills. we just need to sort through the differences so we avoid default. >> there's a couple of things when you're look at the reaction of the american people and i'm sure you're hearing from your constituent again, you have the email going to the staffers office saying we're nearly at capacity in terms of response coming in. i know that you probably heard the whole twitter revolution, fu washington. you've got people calling saying i want you to compromise. the polls show that those staunch conservatives they're the ones who are telling their representatives to hold the line. we don't want to compromise. what are going to be the long-term repercussions for civics in america? >> right now i'm worried about our economy. we can worry about civics and

making sure that we teach civics and civility after we get past this. >> you cannot get to a solution for the economy unless there are civics and civility and good government that goes along with it. >> i agree with it. let me give you an example of that. as the chair of the democratic national committee i couldn't be more committed to the principles of the democratic party. there's a lot of pain i have to vote for because my constituents elected me to come up here and be responsible. i have to make sacrifices and do things i don't want to do for the good of the country. unfortunately the tea party republicans who have a a strangle hold over their republican caucus they don't understand that. compromise doesn't appear to be in their dna. that's why we're hurdling towards default. cooler heads needs to prevail. we need to realize it's not 100% our way. instead of putting language in the legislation that has no chance of passing and that

adding more that has even less of a chance of passing we should come to the table and compromise. >> the democrats have compromised already. it's a compromise by putting this issue front and center and in the spotlight. how much further are democrats willing to go in order to get the deal done and to save the hurdling train. >> the president has said time and again we need to make significant cuts, reduce our deficit do that in the way that doesn't pile pain on the middle class and working families. we're at the point where we don't have revenue and a balanced plan immediately but want to make sure that happens long-term. the republicans have made no concessions. >> good to see you. >> you, too. here's senator leader harry reid speak. >> pelosi and leader hoyer trying to figure out when the votes are going to take place. we'll have to stand by and see what happens. we have said for weeks now that

we will not accept a short-term increase to the debt. just can't do that. and now from what i learn from the two democratic leaders in the house they put more stuff in this rights-wing leading bill that is called the boehner plan. it's really hard to comprehend the confusion that they've had over there. it's really time that they legislate. as we know, they're having trouble doing this. the votes now they've basically given the right wing more than

what they had before. the senate we have proposed compromise. as fred thompson said, the republicans have gotten what they wanted. they should put their chips in their pockets and go home and declare victory. it's really -- what we have now as our amendment is one that reduces the debt. ceils the debt ceiling until march of 2013. cbo has scored it and raised the number to over $2.4 trillion. so it's real compromise directed toward the republicans is so i'm going to today as i did on the floor this morning as my republican colleagues starting with senator mcconnell, give me some ideas as to what you think would improve my legislation. keeping in mind as i've said on

the floor there will be no agreement if it's a short-term extension. we're not going to do that. and my caucus supports that fully. right now this is the only compromise there is, obviously. obviously. what is being done in the house is not a compromise. it's being jammed through that with all kinds of nontransparent dealings. people shuffling #and out of the republican leadership's offices. so we're recognizing the only compromise that there is is mine. ours is truly a bipartisan piece of legislation. and republicans realize that. i've had a number of republicans come to me. i had one republican come and say thanks for your legislation. we had meetings with the number of republicans last night,

various senators and they feel concerned that we're not arriving at a compromise more so than what we have now. we want to do that. i repeat i've asked my friends senator mcconnell to meet with me, to try to work this out. and i'm confident he will, i hope come back with some suggestions. the stakes couldn't be higher. the security of our nation, literally the security of our nation, every family is at stake here. if the debt ceiling is not increased, every american family will feel an increase in their taxes. in various ways. higher payments on all their debts, credit cards, loans they've taken out to put their kids through school. car payments, mortgages on their houses. so i say to my republican colleagues here in the senate dork the right thing. put the interest of the country had of a tea party extremists. they're the ones driving that. if they're all in town that's

what all the news said. they came. they've made all these demands. the people that we all represent want us to come together in a bipartisan method. compromise is not a bad word. so it's time for us to act together and we hold our arms out to my republican colleagues to visit with me and talk to me how we can strengthen my legislation. senator durbin. >> thank you, senator reid. on monday night we had an announcement in a message to the united states from speaker john boehner. remember what he told us? he had a bipartisan plan that he was going to pass in the house of representatives. what happened on tuesday? it turned out it wasn't bipartisan. the only negotiation underway this entire week by speaker boehner has been with other republicans. and he didn't have a plan. by tuesday they announced they couldn't call a vote. well maybe wednesday -- no, on wednesday they couldn't call a

vote. then on thursday again they failed to have the majority to call a vote. and so we waited until late last night and now we're told that some time later today speaker boehner may have rounded up enough republican votes to pass his plan. it's clearly not bipartisan and when you look closely at it it's not right for america. because in negotiating with the most extreme voices in his caucus, he is now moving to positions that are almost indescribable. the latest report we have is to win the last hold outs on the tea party he had to agree to a significant and historic change. not enough that they're willing to hold our economy hostage with the debt ceiling extension, not enough that we stop the workings of this government on so many issues that we should be working on, but now, now speaker has brought in the requirement to extend the debt ceiling we have to amend the constitution of the united states of america. this is the most outrageous

suggestion i have heard. >> there you're hearing senator dick durbin talking about process of trying to push a bill through the house. the senate hasn't gotten that yet. and yet here's what speaker boehner told the gop conference inside his meeting. an aide says that boehner says, quote, if we pass this today, we will have sent not one, two bills that would end this crisis. all it will say is the resolution to the crisis will be the senate which has passed nothing. harry reid is trying to change that. he's proposing that they move forward on his version of a bill to deal with the debt crisis to raise the debt ceiling to cut more than $2.5 trillion from the budget over ten years or so. and then you have president obama saying look, the only solution that is going to keep us from default is a bipartisan solution. that's the only way that we end this debt ceiling stalemate.

let me bring in karen finny. joe watkins a former president george wh bush aide. how do republicans move out of the standoff and into a place of agreement, aka compromise? >> i think that you'll see something. you'll see an agreement on the part of house republicans today with speaker boehner and the real burden ends up being with senator harry reid. i'm not pointing a finger at reid. i'm wish him success on behalf of the american people. that is to come up with having the guts to compromise with republicans so we have a bill that the president can sign in time to avoid default. both bills, let's face it. both bills reduce deficits, both bills cap discretionary spending. speaker majority leader reid is going to need 60 votes of course to avoid any kind of prolonged debate. >> the one question that i have here, though, is adding a balanced budget amendment to the current boehner bill is somewhat

like senate democrats deciding to pass along major tax hikes and then sending it to the house going pass that, if you don't pass that it's your fault that the country defaults, don't you think? >> i think house republicans are saying remember why we were elected. we were elected to get america's house back in order. these house republicans are saying the same thing to the country. saying please remember we have to stop sending money that we don't have. let's get our fiscal house in order. >> no. these republicans were elected to create jobs. and we have not seen that yet. instead we have had idealogical battles that are turning the united states of america into a deadbeat dad that won't pay its bills and to some degree even if they get a deal over the weekend and we avoid the crisis on tuesday, the damage has really been done. the message that's being sent by these tea party freshman is that

the united states' government cannot function properly. here you have they're insisting on putting a balanced budget amendment in another bill, a second time to send it to the sfath knowing that it's not going to pass. that is nothing more than politics that is not good policy. good policy would say we can't get the balanced budget amendment done many the same way that nancy pelosi when we were doing health care said we're not going to be able to get certain things done, what can we get done? >> literally if you're one of the leaders and you're going how in the world can i get something passed, how do you get recalcitrant republicans those on the far right to come in and join with you in a way that comes up with the bipartisan solution. if they're going in and as one republican has member said today, i was bruised and battered, but still it's a no. if they're willing to say that, what do you do? what's the alternative?

>> that's an important question. i've talked with some of my republican friends on the hill who have admitted this week they were scared because for the first time there was no clear path forwards exactly to your point. essentially what it's going to take is for this handful of people to say, okay, you know what? this is what we want, we know we're not going to get that. we were sent here to create jobs. let's do what we can. again, i think the democrats have come up -- >> wait a second, the democrat haves come a very long way. we're talking about a bill that does not have any revenue raisers in it. this idea we've said yes, and now they're saying -- >> we're look for 25 minutes until there's although emergency meating for the house rules committee. they've been talking about the boehner bill. so we'll be following that. karen, joe, thank you very much for weighing in. i appreciate that. he's a nine-time olympic gold medallist who now wants to be a politician.

i'm going to ask him why. why in the world would you want to be a politician when you're look at what's going on in washington right now. carl lewis joins me live to talk about his run for state senate. the debt showdown on capitol hill. it's a beautiful day outside. inside those halls tension, infighting, finger pointing and john boehner's reputation is on the line. we'll be right back. announcer ] anan anthis...is the netwo. a living, breathing intelligence that's helping drive the future of business. in here, inventory can be taught to learn. ♪ machines have a voice. ♪ medical history follows you. it's the at&t network -- a network of possibilities... committed to delivering the most advanced mobile broadband experience to help move business... forward. ♪ to help move business... forward.

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carl lewis winning the gold medal nine times might be easier than trying to run for a new jersey state senate seat. this past april he planned to announce he's going to compete as a democrat. he's facing an obstacle course with republicans saying he doesn't meet the state's residency requirement. carl lewis joins me for his first live television interview since announcing his candidacy.

there's been a battle with whether your name should be on the ballot, where do things stand? >> i'm on the ballot. i won the primary as some people know. what's happening is they are trying to get me back off the ballot. it's within an interesting thing. i was in sports we used to line up on the line, all the people shake hands and go. if i was to line up with no competitors i'd always win the race. really that's what they're trying to do. i've never been in politics, we've got the governor, the secretary of state, the attorney general, the state gop, the county gop and my opponent. i look at it this way, i've put usa on my chest and ran against the world, i can handle new jersey. >> new jersey in some ways is facing similar situations to states across the nation. there's big battles over the budget. the democrats are getting push

back because they went along with governor chris christie. they just slashed benefits for state employees. it's got to be a topic that come ups again if you're elected. how would you move forward on that knowing on the one hand you have state employees who want their benefits in the other, new jersey has the highest property taxes in the nation. >> we know we have the highest property taxes. with the governor slashing the communities it's raising the taxes in those communities. what we need to do is understand that i am 100% for collective bargaining. we fortunate have a situation where that grandfathers in and goes away. the future is now new jerseyians coming together making sure that we continue to push our good schools. we have great schools in jersey. my biggest thing is we have to strive to be the best. we're cutting women's services and all these areas. the reality is that's just passing it on to someone else. >> we were talking about why you chose state senate as opposed to a run for congress. there are a lot of voters that

are fed up with washington right now. knowing that that happens at the state level, too watching this impaesz, why would you want to be in politics right now. >> >> i don't look at myself as becoming a politician. i watched my parents serve every day and grew up with them coaching track teams. when i grew up i did the same thing. i started four years ago coaching a track team. that track team was the last team in south jersey. this year they almost won state. it's for me to serve. at the state level it allows me to continue all the great relationships that i have with the community. >> i put up on facebook and twitter today that you were going to be here. right away a bunch of tweets came in saying please tell me he's not singing the national and they will. let me play a little bit of it. ♪ o say

can you see ♪ and the rockets' red glare ♪ >> that was the nba game in 1993. we're talking a long way. i've got to say, i know that you get a lot of mileage out of that, so to speak. i think you have a pretty good voice, you just couldn't hit the high notes. >> yeah, it was a bad day. >> are you going to sing the national anthem again if you're electd. >> no. what i'm going to do if i'm elected help all the people in district eight of new jersey. i'm focused on a grots campaign. the thing about the fact that people know me, i'm able to do that. that's why i'm reaching out to people through my twitter account and facebook account and my website, carllewis dlst fornew jersey not the number. >> you can tease him about the national anthem, the truth is you have a nice voice. >> i appreciate that. any minute we'll hear from the white house as president

obama warns the u.s. will lose its top credit rating if it defaurlts. he says congress has got to act and do so now. the first funerals for the victims of those deadly attacks in norway are taking place in oslo. exactly one week after the bombing and shooting am page. as family and friends mourn the loss of their loved ones, we're learning about a u.s. connection to the has ker. martin fletcher is live in oslo. >> reporter: hello. the u.s. connection is a strange one. it turns out that the man who confessed to the killing has a problem getting the ammunition to carry out the massacre on the island. in norway the most you can buy -- in the united states by mail order. he simply ordered through the mail from the united states ten ammunition groups, 30 rounds

each. cost $550. got it through the mail. that is the ammunition that he used. of course, the question here is why is that kind of ammunition so easily available in the united states. why is it so easy to export it here to norway. he could have bought the same ammunition in sweden but it's much more expensive. in the united states easier to get and cheaper. that's the ammunition used by the killer here. >> martin fletcher, thank you. police in new hampshire are on a desperate search for any sign of a missing 11-year-old. the girl was last seen monday night at her home. police say there's no indication she ran away. there's no sign of a struggle. michelle, what happened? >> reporter: well, that is a very good question. as you mentioned certainly selena cass was last seen at her home working on the computer according to her family monday night. since then there has been an all out search for her. overwhelming response here. over 100 investigators from

over -- at least three straights have descended on this small town here in the northern new hampshire region where the population is just 800 people. not to mention the dozens of search and rescue crews from throughout new england as well as volunteers from nearby towns that are also working the area systemically working the heavy wooded areas in around around the town looking for the 11-year-old. investigators aren't saying much of any clues that they might have found in and around the cass home in the days that followed. they have said that they are poring over some of the come computer and phone records since she was -- since police have learned that she was last on that come computer and they're looking at the possible connection she may have. now this investigation is much broader than just this area, contessa. it's spread out across the vermont which is across the river here as well as across the

border into canada which is less than a mile here. so a big concern, a massive response as this community continues to struggle with the disappearance of celine na and as investigators try to find out exactly what happened. >> michelle, thank you. a look at the first major tropical storm to threaten the united states coming up. any minute now we'll hear from the white house. president obama is warning that america is in financial crisis. that we'll lose our top credit rating if we default. he says congress has got to come up with a bipartisan solution. and check out a new caught on camera dash cam diaries three. sunday 8:00 p.m. on msnbc. [ male announcer ] this is coach parker... whose non-stop day starts with back pain... and a choice. take advil now and maybe up to four in a day. or choose aleve and two pills for a day free of pain.

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it's expected to make landfall along the south texas coast early tomorrow morning. don is the first tropical storm system to threaten the u.s. this year. the weather channel's paul goodlow is in north padre island, texas. how big is this one supposed to get, paul? >> reporter: it turned out the size is a pretty small storm, contessa. it's going to be wide ranging. the good news is it is a moderate tropical storm. sustained winds at 50 miles per hour. there's still a slight chance it could strengthen for landfall. thoi moved up the landfall point probably to 9:00 and midnight local time here. i'm in north padre island. it's the northern end of the 130-mile long warier island between here and south padre to the east of brownsville. that's where don will come ashore. here north padre we're going to see waves increase awem as rain. the heaviest rains will be south of us. and definitely the south padre island, brownsville seeing the bulk of that rain.

as everyone knows texas in a long-term drought. it extends from 2010 they do need the rain. this one not packing as much rain as we would like. it's going to have some rain, but down towards the valley, south texas, that's where the bulk of the rain will be also across the border into mexico. here in corpus, north padre island we might see an inch or so of rain. we need the rain in texas. a tropical system would be beneficial. the bad news is it's not a drought buster and we're concerned with the wave and potential wind damage as well. >> thank you very much for the update. you have a lot of americans asking why things are so bad in washington. is this the worst congress ever? some experts sure think so. we'll talk more about that after the break. . time for the your business entrepreneur of the week. john crowley and bill hunter set out to streamline the bathroom remodelling business. they created bath simple.

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teaching teens how to accentuate the positive may help their anxiety. a new study from the uk gauged teens' responses to a comment on one of fair facebook photos. those framed to see things in a positive light were more wliekly to view those photos positively than when teens received negative response training. let's get you caught up to date in the debt debate. on the left-hand side of your screen you're seeing the briefing room at the white house. we are expecting that shortly. of course, a lot of input today from president obama who came out and say in front of the cam ration, look, folks if you care about this, and you should, call your congress people, let them know that we need a solution to the debt ceiling. he's also been active on twitter

today from his twitter account and from his official twitter account, too, asking for input from americans. house speaker john boehner was seen smiling a short time ago after emerging from a house gop conference meeting. he's been scrambling to get a vote on a debt deal today. earlier president obama urged democrats and republicans to hash out their differences to get a bill to him soon. the president made another appeal to the american people to put pressure on their lawmakers. >> keep it up. if you want to see a bipartisan compromise, a bill that can pass in both houses of congress and that i can sign, let your members of congress know. in the senator majority harry reid announced he's ready to push ad what with his own version of a debt deal. that vote could come on sunday. the dysfunction of our dmak is getting plenty of press. a political signist who's written about congress and politics for half a century

wrote a column for foreign policy called "worst congress ever." he concludes that while americans have complained for years that government is broken, this time they're right. foreign policy magazine asked other experts if they agree and sarah binder political science professor at george washington university said yes, it's that bad. scott lily a senior fellow at the senior for american progress calls it the worst congress i've seen in my lifetime. from yale university associate professor of history says trust me, this congress is historically inept. and beverly gauge shows me now from yale. why? why are things so very bad? >> i think in some ways in the really big historical picture things aren't so bad. there have been worse moments such as when an entire region of the country succeeded and congress collapsed in the civil war. in more modern times we're really seeing something quite

remarkable. i think there are two things going on. the first is what that foreign policy article wrote about which is that you've seen real changes in the way the parties are struck chered. -- structured. you have much more idealogical uniformity in the party sos that the most conservative democrat is now slightly to the left according to the studies of the most liberal republican. that can be a little misleading because it suggests that you've got the democrats moving left and the republicanings moving right. i think what's happening is is whole spectrum has shifted to the right even as we've seen this little bit of playing out bipartisanship and idealogical partisanship within the parties. i think we're seeing the fulfillment of that trend without question in. some ways the more important thing that's been going on is what's happening within the rp party itself and what has been happening over the past half

century to say we're seeing the culmination of an anti-government attitude, anti-government rhetoric that began with barry goldwater, went on with ronald regan and now has reached a point where it seems as if the republican party at least a certain wing of it, the tea part wing season simply isn't interested in governing anymore. that that has helped congress grind to a halt on this thing. one other thing is what's so remarkable about this is not that we haven't seen fierce con it's about big issues before, this seems so voluntary. this really is about a procedural vote. a procedural question that's gone fine 100 times in the past and the question is why it's become such a huge contest. >> there are other moments in history where we've seen a big divide in terms of partisan politics. watergate you had wilson pushing for the league of nations. there have been other moments when we've seen a great divide.

>> absolutely -- >> do you think if we had a third party, an independent third party that you would still see these impasses? >> i don't think third parties have ever done much in the united states and i don't think that there's a real solution to be found in a third party. in many ways in terms of the policy debates we're not really talking about huge idealogical divisions as i said in some ways the parties are more uniform than they once were. what's kind of remarkable about this moment as i said is you've.this essentially procedural question that's been weighted down with all of this politics. while we have seen moments of fierce contests in the past, you mentioned watergate, the league of nations, it's been about much bigger issues in and of themselves. >> professor, it's so good to have you with me today. thank you for your time. >> thanks a lot. >> thank you. >> they're you're seeing a live picture of the white house. again, we're waiting to hear the most recent developments.

we know that john boehner is going to try to push through a vote on his bill to deal with the debt ceiling. his would include a balanced budget amendment and the senate has already said that would be doa. a quick break here. a quick break here. we'll be right back.n just car . ♪ geico, saving people money on more than just car insurance.

. we've been debating whether any kind of partisanship, bipartisanship is still possible in washington, a post saying it is dead for now. americans are tired of extremes. pop fly tweets bipartisanship is also possible, the lack thereof is all a choice. if they fail each other, they fail us. and norris writes, it is a pipe dream for everyone. it's like watching kids fight over a toy. time for a grown up to step up and make a decision that help tgs country. quit grand standing for 2012. if you'd like to reach out to me, you can do so. thank you so much for watching. have a great weekend.

i'll see you back here monday. just one day until the debt deadline. where will we be at that point. up next "andrea mitchell reports." let's hope in a better place. lawmakers still wrangling today and we will be working through the weekend. we'll go behind the scenes on the last minute negotiations with senator from pennsylvania, steve israel from new york and congresswoman from wyoming. and jim kramer, how is wall street reacting and what is the treasury backup plan. plus who had the worst week in washington. i think it's all of us. "andrea mitchell reports" up "andrea mitchell reports" up next on msnbc.announcer ] anan anthis...is the netwo. a living, breathing intelligence that's helping drive the future of business.

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er. if you want to see a bipartisan compromise, a bill that can pass in both houses of congress and that i can sign, let your members of congress know. make a phone call, sen an email, tweet, keep the pressure on

washington. right now on "andrea mitchell reports," the pressure is on. the president puts on the heat. the phones on the hill light up. facing rejection from his own party, the speaker makes a big concession to his tea party caucus. and with his speakership on the line he is smiling, but hawaii had to sweeten the bill requiring a vote on the balanced budget amendment down the line, down the road. the senate starts the clock today. harry reid is not waiting any longer on house republicans. >> no matter how long republicans delay, the deadline will not move. we have hours, i repeat hours. that's why by the end of the day today i must take action on the senate's compromise legislation. and while washington fiddles, wall street could burn. the debt impasse and a dismal gdp report today sends stocks plunging and